Lake Shore
Hosp Authority

COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Jackson P. "Jack" Berry's Lake
Shore Hospital Authority (LSHA), with its Governor Scott
appointed board, remains one of the least transparent
public agencies in the State of Florida. For years, the
Governor's appointees have not only shielded Mr. Berry
from questions, but ensured the latest Board minutes,
and everything else, would not be available on the
Authority's website before its meetings.

If an individual shows up at a Board meeting and
wants to see the minutes; individual consent agenda
items; the check register; or proposed policy changes
before board approval, Mr. Berry will say, "Put in a
records request."

This evening's minimalist agenda agenda, arrows added, is from
the LSHA website. Details are not easily available.
Manager Berry will not scan documents, preferring to
drive around town and drop them off.

While there is nothing in the FL Statutes that
requires minutes approval, this Scott Board left it up to
Mr. Berry to post or not to post the minutes and
everything else, but there is more.

SB50 was supposed to make a difference

With the advent of Senator Joe Negron's SB50, the bill
that was purportedly going to allow the public to be
heard, some agencies have used SB50 as an opportunity to
do just the opposite.

Board Chair Waseem Khan (file photo)

Jack Berry's Hospital Authority and the Scott Board,
under the leadership of Board Chairman Dr. Waseem Khan,
who claims residence in Columbia County; rents his house
in Lake City; and has his homestead exemption in Alachua
County, has taken creative avoidance to a new level.

SB50 allows the Board to set rules for public
comment, which includes forms; time(s) when the public
can be heard; and the amount of time an individual has
to address the board.

While boards don't have to answer questions from the
public the Columbia County, County Commission and the
City Council of Lake City accommodate the public for
answers to their comments and questions.

Berry, a public official who costs the public
approximately $105,000 a year, has claimed that asking
him questions is "interrogation."

At the LSHA answering the public's questions are a
no-go

At Berry's Hospital Authority, you can be thrown out
without warning. The January 9, 2013
rules are here.

The Authority hung up a sign in a corner stating that
forms to speak must be turned in five minutes before its
meetings.

There is no requirement for Board members to be at
the meeting 5 minutes before it is convened.

This 5 minute rule for the public is not in the
Authority's Board Approved Meeting Rules.

At the May 12, 2014 meeting your reporter, who is
also a taxpayer of the Authority, went to hand in a form
before the meeting began.

Chairman Khan, with a smirk, said, "It’s after the
five minutes. You have to submit it 5 minutes before the
meeting."

Your reporter asked, "Where does it say that?"

Authority Manager Berry responded, "It’s in the
rules."

There were still a few minutes to go before the
meeting began. There was not a quorum present.

Your reporter to Chairman Khan, "That’s bizarre."

Chairman Khan responded, "No it isn’t bizarre. You’re
bizarre."

A couple of minutes later Khan called the meeting to
order when a board member showed up. “We have a quorum,”
he said.

Not one of the board members, all Governor Scott
appointees, said a word.